Narrative:

During this trip there were several instances in which I was quiet and introspective; and subconsciously put my head down with my eyes closed. During these times I was alert and responsive; answering the radios and interacting with crew except for one time on day one in which I became lost in thought and the captain touched my arm to get my attention. On the third night I experienced trouble sleeping in the room provided because of strong odors of carpet deodorizer; and reported for duty with very little sleep. During the operational day I had great difficulty staying awake and focused; and on retrospect should have called in fatigued. I attempted to press through the day rather than use a fatigued call; and although no operational complications arose I should not have done so.this trip was constructed in a way which placed a normal pilot in sleep debt and outside his circadian rhythm: with reports at 1 pm; 4 pm; and 3:15 pm on days 1 through 3 followed by a report at 6 am on day 4. Even with proper rest this is a hard trip to finish. Better pairing construction would prevent this issue. The corporate policies at many of our hotels require housekeepers to spray carpet deodorizer every day when cleaning; and this chemical odor builds up over time gradually affecting those sensitive to such smells. The doctor I consulted with when researching this issue at the union medical office agreed that one sniff of that deodorizer causes him to begin to get congested. This issue should be addressed by union and company hotels staff. Ultimately; the person responsible for ensuring that I am properly rested at work is myself; and I should have called in fatigued when I realized how tired I was at the beginning of day 4 rather than try to finish the trip. In this instance; my own personal judgment was in error. Our present corporate policies are a mixed bag: I have used fatigue calls in the past without any negative consequence from the company and found the environment supportive of that judgment. However; pilots who call in fatigued; unlike those of us who use sick calls; forfeit pay for the time we are out. A change in this policy would make pilots much less reluctant to admit weakness in this area. Finally; the effects of fatigue and alcohol are consistently shown to be similar on human performance. With alcohol; one of the first effects is that judgment is impaired. Widespread training and awareness of this fact; and treatment of fatigue and alcohol in similar manners; would be greatly beneficial to the pilot community. Another person; not the person affected; may in fact be a better judge of the tired crewmember's mindset and focus than he is himself. We ought to inform and encourage our pilot community to step forward and exert peer pressure to send tired co-workers home. As stated earlier; the primary prevention; and the one I should have used; is personal initiative to call in fatigued when my rest is interrupted and I feel tired prior to reporting for duty.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ First Officer experienced moments of 'zoning out' from which he had to be aroused by the Captain. Fatigue due to unhealthy air in layover hotels is cited as a contributing factor.

Narrative: During this trip there were several instances in which I was quiet and introspective; and subconsciously put my head down with my eyes closed. During these times I was alert and responsive; answering the radios and interacting with crew except for one time on day one in which I became lost in thought and the Captain touched my arm to get my attention. On the third night I experienced trouble sleeping in the room provided because of strong odors of carpet deodorizer; and reported for duty with very little sleep. During the operational day I had great difficulty staying awake and focused; and on retrospect should have called in fatigued. I attempted to press through the day rather than use a fatigued call; and although no operational complications arose I should not have done so.This trip was constructed in a way which placed a normal pilot in sleep debt and outside his circadian rhythm: with reports at 1 PM; 4 PM; and 3:15 PM on days 1 through 3 followed by a report at 6 AM on day 4. Even with proper rest this is a hard trip to finish. Better pairing construction would prevent this issue. The corporate policies at many of our hotels require housekeepers to spray carpet deodorizer every day when cleaning; and this chemical odor builds up over time gradually affecting those sensitive to such smells. The Doctor I consulted with when researching this issue at the union medical office agreed that one sniff of that deodorizer causes him to begin to get congested. This issue should be addressed by union and company hotels staff. Ultimately; the person responsible for ensuring that I am properly rested at work is myself; and I should have called in fatigued when I realized how tired I was at the beginning of day 4 rather than try to finish the trip. In this instance; my own personal judgment was in error. Our present corporate policies are a mixed bag: I have used fatigue calls in the past without any negative consequence from the company and found the environment supportive of that judgment. However; pilots who call in fatigued; unlike those of us who use sick calls; forfeit pay for the time we are out. A change in this policy would make pilots much less reluctant to admit weakness in this area. Finally; the effects of fatigue and alcohol are consistently shown to be similar on human performance. With alcohol; one of the first effects is that judgment is impaired. Widespread training and awareness of this fact; and treatment of fatigue and alcohol in similar manners; would be greatly beneficial to the pilot community. Another person; not the person affected; may in fact be a better judge of the tired crewmember's mindset and focus than he is himself. We ought to inform and encourage our pilot community to step forward and exert peer pressure to send tired co-workers home. As stated earlier; the primary prevention; and the one I should have used; is personal initiative to call in fatigued when my rest is interrupted and I feel tired prior to reporting for duty.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.